I happened upon three of these at my local store. Don't waste your time, two of the three absolutely sucked and the third, The Saint, was only passable IMO.

Wow...different strokes, I guess.They may not possess the character of a fine, home made cider...but the Crispin ciders I've tried were anything but offensive; in fact, I rather liked the dry one.

As with beer, I guess that it just proves the notion that one man's poison is another man's elixer.I'm lucky enough to have a local retailer that offers a single bottle purchase option for nearly everything new that comes into his store. It's a godsend these days, especially with so many duds hitting the shelves lately.

I've had them and thought they were fine, but whether you like them would depend on what kind of cider you want. Crispin is owned by Miller-Coors, so I'd guess from ownership that they are trying to compete with Woodchuck/Strongbow/etc. and not dry artisinal ciders.

Logged

Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.AHA Member since 2006BJCP Certified: B0958

I didn't much care for the Crispin ciders, although I agree that the driest one was OK.Angry Orchard ciders seem to me to be pretty good. I found they are made by the Sam Adams guys, so I guess they're not as "crafty" as they should be, eh?

Logged

Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)Homebrewing since 1990AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member BJCP judge since 1995

As far as major commercial ciders go, I think they're fine. There's all sorts of better stuff out there, sure, assuming you're lucky enough to have a good local ciderer, or live near a liquor store that's curated by someone with an interest in cider. For something that's readily available, though, Crispin Original (blue label) is pretty decent as a go-to.

That said, I'll agree that most of their "artisanal reserve" stuff is more gimmicky than good. Just like most things that feature the word artisanal prominently on the label, really.

Cider nerd, here.... and I agree with Mike's sentiments that these ciders suck. To their credit, Crispin's plain jane ciders are pretty good although by no means world class. My favorite of theirs is Brown's Lane which is actually an imported authentic English cider ala Gaymer's, with a lot of that barnyardy flavor going on -- yum.

Logged

Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

I will say I have no idea how long these ciders had been around or how they were handled prior to hitting my local store, but they were refrigerated during the period they were there.

Tom, if you can choke down a bottle of Lansdowne you are the man. I immediately headed to the sink and spit it out. Envision cider, fermented with stout yeast and molasses added. I think I puked a little in my mouth describing it.

Tom, if you can choke down a bottle of Lansdowne you are the man. I immediately headed to the sink and spit it out. Envision cider, fermented with stout yeast and molasses added. I think I puked a little in my mouth describing it.

Thanks, with a description like that you know I'm going to give it a try now